What Happens At Cons

Ralph tried piecing together, in his mind, what Bill had in mind for his hall costume, from what he saw hanging off his partner’s arm.

The faux fur and the big sword were good clues, but Ralph couldn’t picture what it was going to look like once it was on Maxwell.

Bill saw Ralph staring at his wares, and pulled back, trying to hide the mass of material behind him. “Cut it out, Ralph!”

“I’m trying to figure out what you’ve got going, Bill!”

“Never you mind. Prince Ra approved, and thankfully it’s about what I had in mind when I went in there.”

“Please tell me you’re not going to wear your gun with it, Bill,” Ralph said.

“’Course I am. I’ve already registered with hotel and con security. They’ve got something called ‘peace bonding’ of all things, con security that is. Nuts to that, they ain’t putting a plastic garbage tie on my firearm! Hotel security told them to leave me be, so they didn’t ask questions.”

“Con security doesn’t know you’re a Fed?”

“No, and I want to keep it that way. I told Rob when he reached into my vest in the dealers room, when he felt my gun. I told him, on the q.t., to keep it quiet, and he agreed. I think that’s one reason he wanted me to hang around with him, he’s intrigued by law men prob’ly.”

Ralph caught Kevin’s eye, and winked at his son.

Ralph asked, “So, Bill, how long have you been letting drag queens cop a feel, any way?”

Bill blushed and laughed. “You don’t know every damned thing there is to know about me, Hinkley.”

Kevin couldn’t contain himself and barked out a laugh, then covered his mouth quickly.

“What?” Bill demanded to know, looking at Kevin on the opposite side of his father.

“Oh, nothing,” Kevin said, smiling knowingly.

When Bill continued to glare at the younger Hinkley, Kevin said, “Look, I’m an L.A. kid. Nothing phases me.”

Bill shrugged in agreement. “Yeah, that’s true.”

The three reached their rooms, and Bill took out his key. “I’ll see you guys in about a half-hour. I’ve gotta shower and shave. Prince Ra’s going to present me to court tonight.”

“Gee, Bill, you’re really getting into the scene quickly. We just got here and it’s only Thursday afternoon! I can’t imagine where you’ll be come the closing dance on Sunday.”

“I’m not going to any dances, Ralph. Do I like music?”

“I’ve heard they’re a lot of fun, Bill,” Kevin said. “It’ll be a great way to meet girls.”

“Hmm, well, we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it tonight. Now, you two go away and let me transform myself, like how Rob told me.”

Kevin and Ralph went into their room.

“I’m going to change in the bathroom, Dad, so I can take a quick shower first,” Kevin said.

“That’s fine, son, do that. I can get into my costume pretty quickly, it’s simple. I showered before we left.”

Ralph smiled indulgently when he saw Kevin take out the pieces of his costume. His son had opted for a Starfleet uniform, like the cast wore in the second movie. He’d been saving his allowance for months to get it, and it was time to debut it in front of real fans.

“I’ve been dying to wear this somewhere, Dad! I haven’t seen any yet, today, that are nearly as perfect!”

“You’re going to look great, Kev! You’d better get started, Bill gave us a half-hour. You got everything you need, right? Down to the boots?”

“Yep, it’s authentic to the last rank insignia! I’ve made myself a Commander, like Scotty.”

He gathered up the pants, jacket and other accessories and went into the bathroom. When Ralph was sure his son wasn’t going to come back out for a last minute item, he took his suit out of its special case, hiding at the bottom of a paper bag.

He’d mastered changing into it within a matter of seconds. He finished and stood in the living area of the room, hearing the shower running. He had time to kill, and looked at the wall that separated his room from Bill’s.

As he was looking at the blank wall, and without conscious thought, a holograph hit him. He was looking as if through the wall; he’d had such holographs before, and was never too sure if he was truly seeing through something, or picking it up and it was projecting as an image in his mind.

Same difference, really, he thought. He saw Maxwell laying out the various pieces of his costume, and Ralph’s eyes went wide as he got an inkling on what Bill was going to wear. The older partner unfastened the leather belt and carefully lay the big sword on the bed, beside his costume.

He took the sword out of its scabbard, stepped away from the bed to give himself some room, and began swinging it around. What amazed Ralph was that Bill looked like he knew what he was doing! His friend lunged, did a fake parry, swung the sword over his head, twisted on his heel and made another lunge at some unseen opponent.

Bill switched from hand to hand during his own little sword practice, stretching his arms, flexing the muscles in his shoulders and back to loosen up. His holster must have inhibited his movements. He paused long enough to remove first his vest, then the leather holster.

At one point, in the middle of a turn, when Maxwell was facing their common hotel room wall, he paused and looked straight ahead, as if at Ralph. He continued the fluid motion of spinning and changing hands at the same time, worked through what Ralph thought was the rest of a routine, then stopped.

He saw Bill put the sword back into the scabbard, and again turn to face the wall directly. It was as if Bill’s eyes were looking through the wall, directly at Ralph. The younger partner’s heart seemed to skip a beat. He can’t see you, idiot, Ralph thought. He doesn’t know you were watching.

What shocked Ralph the most, and sent a thrilling numbness from his abdomen to his chest, was what happened next—Bill smiled, as if he heard exactly what Ralph was thinking.

Ralph turned away from the wall, forcing the holograph to stop. He rarely intentionally broke such a spell, since there was never any assurance in how long one would last.

He shook his head to clear it of that vision, that secret smile he’d seen on his partner’s face. Bill’s skin was flushed and glowing from the brief exercise, and he… he…. Ralph stopped that line of thought. He walked around the room, shaking his arms, trying to relax and think about something else. The suit. I’m going to be wearing the suit, in public, and nobody will think anything weird about it!

Fantasy, Ralph, he thought. This is your fantasy weekend too, you know, not just Bill’s. A line from “Rocky Horror Picture Show,” came to mind: Don’t dream it, be it.

If Bill doesn’t want to go to the dance, maybe he’ll want to see a movie instead, Ralph thought as he recalled the video was playing at Midnight. The mischievous smile on his face reflected what he’d seen on his partner’s moments ago.